🚨Episode 3:
#RealTalk with
#PhiloSomalia
Last October, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Somaliland President Abdirahman Irro visited Addis Ababa, both on working visits. There were fewer than 48 hours between their arrivals.
We now learn, for the first time, from Israel’s foreign minister that President Irro came to Jerusalem in October 2025.
Upon his return from Israel, President Irro told his parliament that he had visited the UAE and Ethiopia. He omitted his visit to Israel.
It’s not clear if President Mohamud was aware of Irro’s trip to Israel.
On December 26, 2026, Israel announced on a video call that it recognized the Republic of Somaliland as a fully sovereign nation. Meanwhile, a day before, Somalia scheduled municipal elections in the capital for the first time in 56 years.
Today, President Irro is in Jerusalem opening the country's first-ever embassy.
The question remains whether the Somali government knows what’s going on in its backyard or whether it knew about the trip and the upcoming announcement, which people on the streets of Hargeisa already knew about.
What is your take?